Federal Slowdown Affects Some Stuff You Might Care About

Well, we found one, besides my own personal work situation, where the federal slowdown (80% of federal spending continues) has an actual impact:

Mike Brenner is trying to open a craft brewery in Milwaukee by December. His application to include a tasting room is now on hold, as are his plans to file paperwork for four labels over the next few weeks. He expects to lose about $8,000 for every month his opening is delayed.

Why would you obey the law when there is no one to enforce it?  Well, this the federal government and apparently there is money to pay people to enforce the shutdown.  

For many hours her tour group, which included senior citizen visitors from Japan, Australia, Canada, and the United States, were locked in a Yellowstone National Park hotel under armed guard.

Really?  Elderly tourist driving through the wide open spaces in Yellowstone, as in "Where the Buffalo Roam," are met by armed resistance from our supposedly "broke" federal government?

Don't eat that grass or you'll be arrested. Yellowstone's shut down don't you know?

Onion headline? Buffalo Die in Yellowstone Due to Federal ShutDown.  Told they couldn't graze due to federal shutdown slowdown.

The Insanity of Ethanol

Makes more sense than paying to convert it to ethanol.

I am waiting for a Republican candidate to renounce ethanol tax breaks and subsidies. In the meantime, I reiterate the shear insanity of the policy of burning food as a motor vehicle fuel. I have made many of these arguments before. The insanity of our current policy of providing tax incentives to turn corn into ethanol are many:

1. Ethanol yields 30% less energy per gallon than gasoline, so it harms fuel efficiency.
2. It is not clear whether or not the production of ethanol actually produces more energy than it consumes. Regardless, it produces less energy than drilling for oil.
   
3. It is heavily subsidized. That means the free market has determined that ethanol is not an efficient way to produce fuel for vehicles. Subsidies are almost always a waste of taxpayer dollars, ethanol is no exception.
   
4. Ethanol subsidies increase the price of corn, which in turn increases the price of meats. Essentially, we are burning food and driving up its price. World food prices are rising, increasing starvation. Ethanol has been fingered. This is a moral issue as well.
5. Ethanol isn't good for the car engine of the most fuel efficient car in my family. So any purported benefit is mitigated by the damage it does to fuel efficient vehicles.
6. Corn is not the most efficient way to produce ethanol. Switchgrass is more efficient.
7. Drilling for domestic oil reserves would reduce dependency on foreign oil far more effectively than ethanol subsidies. The foreign oil dependency argument is the favorite one advanced by conservatives.
8. And lest we not forget, conversion of farmland to subsidized corn production crowds out barley production, raising the price of beer.
   

More expensive, thanks to Iowans.

The only reasonable explanation for the continuation of the policy is that it favors Iowa, which holds the first test of Presidential electoral strength due to its first in the nation caucuses held in January of each election cycle. Who will be the candidate of principle to announce his or her disdain for ethanol in Des Moines?

Tea Party Saturday in San Diego

We made it to the Tea Party rally on Harbor Drive in San Diego this morning. Both boys wanted to go, so it was a family outing. Credit to Waynok for today's pictures and video (if I can get a YouTube account going and fix Java, I may upload some clips.) We were a little late to the proceedings, having stopped at the Starbucks near the trolley station prior to taking public transport to the event. Turns out the opportunity cost wasn't as high as we might have thought. Someone at the City, hearing about the event, decided to gouge citizens $10 per car, for what is normally free parking. (I have no problem paying for parking, but when the city uses it as a means to attempt limit freedom of assembly, when parking is normally free on the weekend, then I take issue.)

We had a great time showing solidarity with the hundreds who ignored the rain to have a great time. We signed petitions and listened to speeches and shook hands with people whose signs and T-shirts we liked. Bought some T-shirts from SarahB. We heard appeals from representatives of not one, but two candidates, who want to challenge Susan Davis in our predominantly Democrat 53rd Congressional district. Something is definitely going on.

Lots of folks driving by honked their support. Even a driver of a city bus honked, smiled and waved too. Something is going on.

Across the street the counter-demonstration was pretty thin. A few dozen tops. Also, I couldn't figure out their purpose. A bunch of them had peacenik signs, as if a pro-war platform is the focus of the Tea Parties. Another group had signs supporting universal health care, "Single Payer Now" and "Health Care is a Right not a Privilege" were two signs. But then I noticed that they also said they were from socialistworkers.org. What morons. The Tea Party position is that the Obamacare and like bills are socialist, and you guys go and make our point. Thanks for the help.

Roger Hedgecock was great. He talked about one person making a difference and standing up for what's right. I admit that I have often concluded that the average American didn't care about constitutional limits the way I did, but now I know otherwise. Like Winston Churchill said of another war against tyranny:

Never give in--never, never, never, never, in nothing great or small, large or petty, never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.

Afterwards, we got lunch nearby. We ended up at Cefalu Pizza. I may post a full review on B-Daddy's Other blog, but suffice to say they had Stone Pale Ale on draft and a terrific torpedo sub on baguette.

B-Daddy in his Viva La Reagan Revolucion shirt enjoying a Stone and Torpedo.

All in all and excellent day.

P.S. I have changed my masthead tag line to reflect the way that I believe I can best support the Tea Party movement, (Unofficial Chief Ideologist of the San Diego Tea Party Movement.) However, my ideology may or may not be mainstream to the movement. I invite the comments of Tea Partiers after viewing the Freedom Coalition Agenda, my semi-official platform, which pre-dates the Tea Parties. I will admit in advance that I am remiss in posting a plank about financial regulation and bailouts.